232 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



B. (^Xuci/ragea:) Bill cylindrical, scarcely or not at all higher than 

 broad ; its tip depressed. Size small (i. e. less than 15 inches long). Color 

 uniform blue or with ashy on body, and black wings and tail. 



Color ashy, with wings and tail mainly black. Culmen convex, 

 gonys slightly concave. Nostrils covered by the short nasal tuft . Pkicorvus. 



Color uniform blue, brighter on the head; the throat streaked with 

 whitish. Culmen straight ; gonys slightly convex. Nostrils completely 

 exposed ; no nasal tufts Qymnokilta. 



Genus CORVUS, Linnjuus. 



Corvus, LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, Corvas corax, L.) 



Gen. Char. The nasal feathers lengthened, reaching to or beyond the middle of the 

 bill. Nostrils large, circular, overhung behind by membrane, the edges rounded else- 

 where. Rictus without bristles. Bill nearly as long as the tarsus, very stout; much 



Cnrvus rnmivOTUS, 



higher than broad at the base ; culmen much arched. Wings reaching nearly or quite to 

 the tip of the tail, the outer four primaries sinuated internally. Tarsi longer than the 

 middle toe, with a series of small scales on the middle of each side separating the anterior 

 scutellate portion from the posterior continuous plates. Sides of the head occasionally 

 with nearly naked patches. Tail graduated or rounded. 



